Process of treating ores.



I. A. BRADDOCK. PROCESS OP TRATING ORBSV APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 1a, 1910.

JMW,

UNITED sTATns PAE: NT Foren.

IsAAC A. IRADDoCK, OF HADDoNrIELD, New` JERSEY; AssIeNoH or ONE-SIXTH To WILLIAM c. cODD, or BALTIMORE MARYLAND, AND ONE-SIXTH To NICHOLAS A. KESTLER AND ONE-SIXTH To DAVID E; ANTHONY, or WASHINGTON, DISTRICT or COLUMBLL 'PROCESS OF TREATING CRES.

specification of Letters Patent. Patented, Mar. 28, 1911.

Application led June 18, 1910. Serial No. 567,573.

To all 'whom 'it may concern:

residing at Haddonfield, in the county of Camden and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes of Treating Ores, of which the following is a specification. l

My invention is an improved process for treating metalliferous ores, particularly those bearing the more valuable metals, such as gold, silver, copper, etc., and in its generic nature the invention resides in taking uncrushed ores as they come from the mines or after they have passed through the primary breakers and alternately lifting' and 'dropping the same onto a hard surface or surfaces within a container whereby to pulverize the ores, and while dropping subjecting such ores .to a high temperature by dry heat to drive oft' the water of crystallization and volatile products in the oreand render the ore mass spongy and cause the same lto decrepitate, thereby assisting in breaking and crushing the oreon impacting with the hard breaker body so as to pulverize the ore.

My invention also consists in providing a process wherein crushed and finely divided ore is separated from the coarser uncrushed ore and delivered while hot into a suitable bath for furthertreatment and acting on the hotpulverized ore stream prior to its deliverance into thebath to reduce its tem- -p'erature an amount'suificientpto maintain a constant or practically constanttemperature of bath.

My' process also includes the simultaneous dry heating and crushing of the ores to produce a hot dry powder and then delivering the same while hot into a bath' of suitable material for the separation of the'ore values,

without introducing steam or water to the ores prior to their introduction into the solvent or bath.

The apparatus I prefer to employ in carrying out my process forms the subject- -,matter of a copending application, tiled on even date herewith, ASerial No. 567,572, and

is briefly indicated in the drawings forming part of. this application in which:

' Figure 1, is a central vertical longitudinal section of the preferred form of apparatus. Fig. 2, is a cross section on the line 22 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3, is a central vertical longitudinal section of a slightly modified form of apparatus.

The apparatus I prefer 'to employ to carry out my invention consists briefly of a first container 1 of globular form, slightlyelongated and provided with hemispherical ends through one lof which the ores and hot blast are introduced and through the other Aof' which the treated ore is delivered. This container 1 is in its preferred construction composed of a metal frame-work 2 embedded in a {ire-proof substance 3, such as concrete, clay or the like, and lined with a Crusher lining 4 of rocks of a suitable material. The second container 6 is of substantially the same construction and contains the solvent 7. The first container 1 has an inlet 8 and an outlet 9 through the hemispherical ends, the outlet 9 delivering into the' inlet 10 of the container 6, whose outlet 11 is directly opposite. l

12 designates partitions within the container 1, and 13 designates the partitions within the container 6. These partitions are radial and terminate short of the central axis of the containers to produce an uninterrupted central longitudinal passage 14: from the entrant end 8 of one container to the exit end 11 of the other container. A

suitable hot blast 15 isprovided within the container 1 from substantially the entrant end S to the exit end 9 in the central zone 14. This blast may be'produced by an oil burner 16 or by a blower 17, when hot fuel 18 is used, a grate or table 19 being provided, by

means of which the ore and fuel may be introduced into the container 1 when hot fuel is used.

The containers 1 and Gare supported on suitable cradles formed of rollers 20 mounted in supports 21 'and the containers are --turned by rollers 2Q on a shaft 23 to which 'y motion is imparted by a belt 24 and pulley the heated blast will It will be noticed that the entrant end l0 and eXit end 11 of the containers 6 and 1 respectively are in close juxtaposition to one another and are slightly separated to forni an air inlet 26 whose area may be adjusted by a collar 27, for a purpose hereinafter ex- 'plained The solvent 7 may be admitted to the container 6 in any desired manner, preferably by a pipe 28, as shown in the draw in s.

'glhe ore 29 to be treated is placed in the container l and the fuel for heating is also introduced when theoil burner 16 is used to produce the heat blast from inlet to outlet of the container 1. I prefer to use one that of the type shown in the drawings. Having introduced the ore in large chunks as it comes from the mine (or after 'it has passed through the first breakers) into the container l and havi ing introduced the solvent into the container 6 (the solvent being a cyanid or other l solution when gold and silver ores are undergoing treatment) a hot blast is-produced by igniting the burner 16 in any desired manner, and the containers are set in motion. The ore 29 will be carried up by the partitions 12 and 13 and droppedt-hrough the blast or flame 15 where they will come into direct contact with the hot blast and have their water of crystallization and volatile products driven olf. Any sulfur in the ore will be removed in this manner. The ore having dropped through the hot blast 15 impacts the Crusher surface 4 of the container at the bottom and inasmuch as the structure of the ore in being heated is weakened and made porous, the impact will break and crush the ore, which breaking and crushing is further assisted by the roll; ing 4and tumbling of the' softer particles in connection with theharder particles in the container 1 during its rotation. The tcinper ature within the container l is usually carried up to about 500 F. so as to thoroughly dry the ore and drive oftl the volatile products.

Attention is called to the fact that the removal of the volatile products in the ore while passing through the heat zone causes decrepitation to take place, and the ore becomes porous and spongy so when it con tacls the bottom of the container it will be broken and crumbled, the breaking and crumbling action being also assisted bythe rolling and tumbling of the ore within the retort` during its movements, the heavier and lesser heated ores serving to assist in crushing thesofter particles until the ore is reduced to a tine powder. The force of the heated blast serves to cause the crushed particles of the ore to gradually work toward the outlet 9 of the container and as soon as tlie ore rocks have been crushed line enough carry the ore particles through the outlet 9 second container 6 where the hot ore particles are deposited into the solvent 7. The container 6 being provided with partitions 13 will serve to agitate the solution4 within the container 6 and as the hot ore particles are directly deposited into said solution the temperature within the container 6 will be maintained at thedesired degree (usually from 200 to 212 F.) The air'opening between the'conta-iners l and is so regulated that the temperaturewitliin.the container 6 will be maintained constant or practically so, so as to avoid .the boiling of the solvent but still allow suliicient heat to assist the chemical re-action.

deposited' in the solution 7 in the container 6, said container is rolled away andl another container substituted. The i and solvent-'from the lcontainer 6 which has been rolled away may be emptied after both, and extracting the-values thereby into any suitable reservoir Wliere'it 'may be further treated bythe usual means to separate preferred form of apparatus,I call attention to the factthat'in lieu of using a gas burner 16, otherv fuel may be used asconditions Warrant, andas will be more clearly apparent by reference to my copending application hereinbefore referred to.

apparatus as such as. that forms the sub before referred to, Aand I further desire to state that slight'changes in the sequence of steps of my process herein described, or -slight modifications in the various degrees of temperature used may be made dependent upon the ore bein-g treated and aswill be apparent to those skilled in the art, without 'container by said blast.

sists in placing a body of ore'in a container having an inlet and an outlet, establishing ,a hot blast from the inlet to the outletl to raise the temperature Within said container to a definite degree, then successively lifting said ore above said blast and drpping it through said bla-st to become crrusheol and of the retort 1 into the.V

As soon as a sufficient quantity of ore is .dissolved ore Having thus described the process and the l In this application I make no claim to the' departing from the spiritof the invention,

forced percolation by steamor vacuum, or

the dissolved values if any remain.

ioo

ject-matter of my other application'herein- 2. The method of treating ores'which cou pulverized until said ore has been suiciently pulverized to be delivered out of said container by said blast, and causing said blast to deliver said ore out of said container into a second container containing a solvent and depositino` said ore into said solvent.

3. The method of treating ores which consists in placing a body of ore in a container having an inlet and an outlet, establishing a hot blast from the inlet to the outlet to raise the temperature within said container to a definite degree, then successively lifting said ore above said blast and dropping it through said blast to become crushed and pulverized until said ore has been sufficiently pulverized to be delivered out of said container by said blast, and causing said blast to deliver said ore out of said container into a second container and retaining said ore so delivered in said second container.

4. The method of treating ores which consists in placing a body of ore in a container having an inlet and an outlet, establishing 'a hot blast from the inlet to the outlet to lraise the temperature within said container to a definite degree, then successivelylifting said ore above said blast and dropping it through said blast to become crushed and pulverized until said ore has been sufficiently pulverized to be delivered out of said container by said blast, causing said blast to deliver said ore out of said container into a second container, retaining said ore so delivered in said second container, and sub;

`jecting the ore delivered into said second container to chemical action to separate the values therefrom.

5. A process of treating ores consisting in introducing the ore into a container and simultaneously heating, drying and pulverizing the ore in said container, and then delivering said ore while hot into a solvent.

6. A process of treating ores consisting in introducing the ores into a container vand simultaneously heating, drying and pulverizing the ore in said container, then delivering said orc while hot into a solvent, and cooling said ore prior to its delivery into said solvent, a sufficient amount to maintain a constant temperature in the solvent.4

7. A process of treating orcs which consists in introducing ores into a container and subjecting them to the action of al hot dry blast to cause said ores to become porous and decrepitate, dropping and tumbling said ores within said container while hot to crush thev same, and then blowing the crushed ore particles out of said container into a second lcontainer for further treatment.

8. A process of treating ores which consists in introducing ores into a container and subjecting them to the action of a hot dry blast to cause said ores to become porous and decrepitate, dropping and tumbling said ores within said container while" hot to crush the same, then blowing the crushed ore partlcles out of sald contalner 1nto a second con:

tainer for further treatment, and then subjecting the ore so delivered to the action of a solvent.

9. A process of treating ores which con-y sists 1n introducing ore chunks into a container, subjecting said ore to the action of a dry hot blast and simultaneously tumbling said ore to drive ofi the volatile products thereof and pulverize said ore and then blowing said ore out' of said container into a receptacle for further treatment.

10. A process of treating ores which consists in providing two containers each having an inlet and an outlet in alinement with one another, the inlet of one container being adjacent to the outlet of the other container, establishing a hot blast through said containers with a heating zone extending from the inletto the outlet of the first container, introducing ore chunks into said first container and then lifting said ore chunks and dropping them through said heat zone to render said ore chunks porous and cause them to decrepitate and become pulverized on contact with the container wall until the ore becomes sufficiently pulverized and ythen convey said pulverized ore by said blast into said second container and preventing said ore particles from leaving said second container.

11. A process of treating ores which consists in providing two containers each having an inlet and an outlet in alinement `with one another, the inletof one container being adjacent to the outlet of the vother container, establishing a hot blast through said containers with a heating zone extending from the inlet to the' outlet of the first container, introducing ore chunks into said first container and then lifting said ore chunks and dropping them through said heat zone to render said ore chunks porous and cause them to decrepitate and become pulverized on contact with the container wall until the Ore becomes sufiiciently pulverized and then convey said pulverized ore by said blast into said second container and preventing said ore particles from leaving said second container, and subjecting said ore particles to further treatment in said second container to separate the values therefrom.

12. A process of treating ores which consists in providing two containers each having an inlet and an outlet in alinement with one another, the inlet of one container being adjacent to the outlet of the other container, establishing a hot blast through said containers with a heat zone extending from` the inlet to the `outlet of the' first container, introducing ore chunks into said first container and then lifting said ore chunks and dropping them through said heat zone to render said ore chunks porous and cause them to decrepitate and become pulverized on contact with the container Wall until `thel ore becomes suiiiciently pulverized and then convey said pulverized ore by said blast into said -,second container and preventing said ore particles from leaving said second con tamer, subjecting said ore particles to further treatment 1n sald second container'to separate the Values therefrom, While mainta1n1ng a constant temperature 1n said second 1,0 container at a predetermmed degree.

/ ISAAC A. BRADDocK.

Witnesses:

DAVID E. ANTHoNY,' WM. S. ARMSTRONG, J1'.` 

